Archibald Meston

Archibald Meston (26 March 1851 – 11 March 1924) was an Australian politician, civil servant, journalist, naturalist and explorer.

Personal life Archibald Meston was born at Towie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of Alexander Meston.

Meston married Margaret Frances Prowse Shaw in Sydney on 22 August 1871.

After a long and varied career, Meston retired to Brisbane where he died (a pauper) of tetanus on 11 March 1924. Meston was survived by his wife and, out of seven children, by four sons and a daughter. He is buried in South Brisbane Cemetery.

Professional and public life

In 1874, after travelling from New South Wales, he managed Dr John Waugh's Pearlwell sugar plantation on the Brisbane River. The site is east of Oxley Creek, where it flows into the Brisbane River.

From 1875 to 1881 he was editor of the Ipswich Observer. He was later the editor of The Toowoomba Chronicle. where he was a strong supporter of Queensland Premier Thomas McIlwraith. They rehearsed in Brisbane before performances in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The show collapsed in Melbourne.

In 1894 he was commissioned to investigate the conditions of Aboriginal Australians in Queensland; despite his consequent proposals, only some of his ideas were embodied in the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897. Meston was, from 1898 to 1903, the Southern Protector of Aboriginals for Queensland. During his time as the Protector, Meston visited many Aboriginal communities and camps across Queensland and as an amateur ethnologist and linguist he documented Aboriginal culture and language. Meston collected words and wordlists from sites across Queensland which were later collated into various notebooks and cuttings. These notebooks are now held by the State Library of Queensland are a valuable resource for those researching Indigenous Language. In 1903 Meston was told that his services were no longer required.

In 1910 he was appointed director of the Queensland Government Tourist Bureau in Sydney.

Meston Street in Mitchelton, Brisbane was named after him in 1938.

Publications Apart from numerous writings as a journalist, as well as official reports to government authorities, several books were published by Meston: 1890 – Queensland Railway and Tourist Guide. Queensland Railway Commissioners: Brisbane. 1895 – Geographic History of Queensland. Dedicated to the Queensland People. Queensland Government: Brisbane.